Clamping device for oil-well pipes



May 8,1928. 1,669,401

' M. B. DAVIS CLAMPING DEVICE FOR OIL WELL PIPES Filed July 29. 1925 s Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY INVENTOR M01100 5. DUV/J.

May 8, 1928. I 1,669,401

M. B. DAVIS CLAMPING DEVICE FOR OIL WELL PIPES Filed July 29, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A'I'TORNEY May a, 1 928.

M. B. DAVIS CLAMPING DEVICE FOR OIL WELL PIPES Filed July 29, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Mgr M54 0? ATTbRNEY May s, 1928. 1,669,401

I M. B. DAVIS CLAMPING DEVICE FOR OIL WELL PIPES Filed July 39. 1925 5 Sheets-sh t 4 'y- 3226 S /INVENTOR ATTORNEY May 8, 192's. 1,669,401

M. B. DAVIS V CLAMPING DEVICE FOR OIL WELL PIPES Filed July 29. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 'INVENTOR Mary/)7 5. Bar/Q3.

ATTOR N EY Patented May 8,1928;

- UNITE-D" STATE-S MARVIN B. DAVIS, OF KANSAS crrY, MIsso nIj AssIGNon TO GEORGE Knuth, or a SAPUL'PA, OKLAHOMA.

crimrine DEVICE: FOR orb- ELL rrrnsgQ Application file i July 29,1925. s ri ind; 46,785."

I This invention relates to clamping devices for oil well pipe and particularly, tubing elevators. An important feature of the 111- vention is that the elevator jaws engage the surface of the pipe below thecollar in contradistinction to thoset pes of elevators which suspend theipipe rom the collar so that the collar takes the load. Whenever the entire string of tubing issuspended from the collar of one section there is-danger of tearing off the collar because frequently the collar cannot sustain the .load this' being due to the terrifioweights of the strings which notinfrequently exceed one hundred tons, y I

It isan important 'featureof my ll'lVQIltion that the elevator is so constructed that it will not kink or collapse the tubing; the jaws being selt-seatingand havingcontact with the pipe or tubing over afconsiderable longitudinal area so that danger of disrupting the wall -of the tubing or pipewill :be practically eliminated. i

In order to make a successful elevator it must be compact, on account of the close clearances of the operatingparts of'the rig; for example, the end 01": the walking beam is very close to thevertical axial line'of the casing or hole and its front straddles the hole during. the drilling operation so that the notch for the temper screw will be practically in line with the center of the hole. \Vhen the casing or tubing is either let in or pulled, the walking beam is tiltedso that its free end is swung. in an upward direction to throw it away from the center oi the hole as far as possible. but theclearances are such that only a slight swinging movement is permitted, and since the elevator passescth'e end of the walking beam when lowering the casing or pulling it,it is apparent that an elevator ofivery large proportions would be impracticak When practicing my invention the tubing is generally placed in onecornerofthe derrick in an upright position. O'ne'lend of each tubing section rests on, the floor and a portion of the tubing about eight feet from the top end, rests up in the derrick. Ordinarily onernan is on the tubing board and two men on the the cycle of operations forfapplying floor. The elevator is 5 on the hook of the block-and-tacklecarried by the cablerunsfl:

ning through the crown block supportedqby the waterx table. "The block-andiackle" is raised by horses or by a tractor and is lowered by means of the bull wheel of the rig.

VVhen the elevator israised from the floor of the de1'ric-k,'itis open and its'movement is continuous upward. to a point near the- Whcn the elevator collar- 0f the tubing.

approaches the tubing board, the operator grasps the elevator handles by reaching.

aroundrthe tubing and drawing the halves of the elevator togetherl Then he latches them. The teeth" of the gripping jaws do not atthis time engage the pipe or tubing;

but'the elevator continues toslide on the pipeor tubing until it reachesa point just below the collaru Then certain automatic devices cause the jaws to grip the pipe below the collar. The tubing sectionisv then lifted high enough tobeinserted in the collar of the tubing held bythe spider. and the two men on; thefloor of the derrick screw the uppermost tubingsection onto the string. The stringis'thenslightlyraised to release the grip of the spider which'is then opened leaving the string" suspended in the elevator which "mayfinow be lowered vinto the well by means of the bull wheel until only. a small portion of the, uppermost tubing section "remains above the spider. The spider isthen caused to grip the uppermost section of th'e stri'ng,' the elevator is released and a new tubing section is repeated.

Qfcourse when'it is necessary to pull the tubing to replacevalves, make repairs and the like, the operation is ordinarily reversed. The autoi'naticgfeature of malntfllnlilg the jaws out of tubing engaging positions until they have moved nearly to i the collar is new in so far as Ianiawarel and itconstitutes an important feature of my invention because iit-provides' [mechanical means for controlling the *jaw engagement "with the board are occupied latching the elevator tubing, this beingtimportant because the 1 twohands of the i operator onthe tubing against the tubing board about the tubin andunless some nieansiwas ment, the upward movement of the elevator must of necessity be stopped while the operator adjusts the jaws.

The novelty of my invention and its mani- :fold advantages will be more Clearly understood by reference to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an elevator constructed in accordance with my invention with a tubing section held thereby."

, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the elevator showing the two halves spread apart.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a plan view of the elevator.

Fig. 5.is a sectional view on the line 55 of 4.

ig. 6 is a disassociated perspective View of the jaw supporting block,'its removable end, the jaw block operating means, and the eye for connecting the operating means to the suspending links of the elevator, and

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective View of one of the jaws.

The elevator is illustrated as comprising a frame made up of sidemembers and end members, jaw supports, jaws carried by the supports, and jaw operating mechanisms, one for causing the jaws to move into gripping position, and one for preventing the jaws from moving into gripping position. One of the sides consists of two hinged memhers and the other side consists of two members adapted to be latched together.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference, 1 and 2 designate two sections of a side bar hinged at 3. 4 and 5 designate two sections of the other side bar which constitute the latching means for the elevator. The ends of the side bars 1 and 4 are connected by a transverse shaft 6 which constitutes one of the end members, and the ends of the members 2 and 5 are connected by a transverse shaft 7 which constitutes the other end member of the frame. The member 41 is provided with a tongue 8 adapted to be received between the two side bars '9 and 10 on the end of the member 5. The members may be secured together. that is, latched. by the U-shaped bolt 11 passing through perforations 12 and 13 in the members 9 and 10. and through perforations 14:

in the member 8. The U-shaped bolt may be withdrawn to the position shown in Fig. 2 by the manually operated lever 15 having a forked end 16*which engages the bolt 11.-

The lever 15 is pivoted to a bracket 17 on the member 5 by means of a bolt 18 and the swinging movement of the lever 15 is limited into latching position. The member 4 carries an angular rod 22 which constitutes a handle, so that when the operator grips the handle 22 with his left hand and the lever 15 with his right hand and exerts an outward pull on the handle 22 and also the lever 15, the bolt 11 will be retracted and the two halves of the frame hinged at 3 will be spread apart.

The shafts 6 and 7 are mounted in bearings in the side members and the side members may be held against spreading by bolts The shafts 6 and 7 are single throw crank shafts, one being specifically illustratedin Fig. 6. Each shaft consists of two aligning ends 24: and 25 to be received in the side members, and a single throw crank 26 between the end members 2 1 and 25. Each connectedto the crank shaft preferably integral therewith. The outstanding arms have aligning perforations 29 and 30 which align with the perforate end 31 of an eye link the member 32 being secured between the two members 27 and 28 by a bolt 33. The eye members are substantially duplicates, so I have designated one of them 32 and the other 32. The eyes 32 32 receive the supporting links 34 and 3a which extend above the elevator and which are secured to the hook of the block-and-tacklc carried by the cable passing through the crown block on the water table.

The single throw cranks 26 support the IOU jaw supports 35 and 36. The jaw supports are duplicates, one being specifically shown indetail in Fig. 6. Each jaw support comprises a vertically elongated block 37 with a crank receiving notch or bearing 88 into which the crank 26 fits. The crank in each instance is held by a plug-like bearing member 39 fastened to the block by a pin 40 which passes through an opening formed by the notch 11 in the block and the notch 412 in the member Thisis clearly shown in Fig. 3. i

Therefore. when the shafts are rocked about their axes the cranks 26 move the blocks 37 in a horizontal plane either toward or away from the axis of the pipe or tubing to be gripped. At the lower end of each block are two vertical bearings 43 and 1 1. A I

removable bearing member 16 is fastened to the top 17 of the block by a bolt 18 which passes through the bearing member 16 and through the opening 19 in the block with its threaded end in the recess50 so that a nut 51 may be screwed onto the end of the bolt.

the head hearing againstthe member 416. r

The member 416 is providedwith two vertical bearings 52 and 53 which align with the bearings 43 and 44. One lower bearing and one aligning upper bearing receive the trunlit) all

ency to slippage willbe eliminated; and in order to afford the bestgrippi'ng action upon the pipe surface I prefer to arrangethe jaws radially about'a common axis so that the longitudinal centers of the jaws will be about 90 degrees apart, and by pivoting the jaws vertically they will be self-seating so that when the two jaw supports move one toward the other a highly efficient jaw engagement will be provided.

It will'be apparent from the foregoing that when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the operator can swing the two halves of'the elevator together around the tubing and that the two members will become latched together the U-shaped bolt 11. Then the weight of, the elevator on the links 3d and 34: will cause the crank shafts to rotate in their bearingsdue t0 the fact that the links 34 and 34! are fastened to the out standing lever arms 27 and 28. the leverage will be sufiicient to rock the shafts, and in rocking, the shafts will move the jaw supports inward unless some means is provided for preventing the actuation of the jaw, supports. As above explained it is not'desirable to have the elevator grip the tubing when the elevator'is adjacent to the tubing board, but

it is better practise to have the elevator slip along the pipe or tubing 59 until it nearly reaches the collar 60, so I have provided means for preventing the elevator fromgripping the tubing too soon. ,The means for holdingthe jaws out of gripping'position is illustrated as comprising two elbow levers '61 and 62 whicharepivoted at their outer ends 63 and 64 to the brackets 65 and 66 fastenedto thelinks' 347and 3 l', theiparticular construction being immaterial so long as they are of suchstructure that they will pivotally support thelevers 61 and 62. At the elbows 67 and 68 ofthe levers 61 and 62 are links 69 and70 which engage the eyes 71 and 72 on the.bearingpniembers 46 of theblocks 37 and at the upper ends of the longarms 73 and 74501? the elbow levers '61 and 62 are T-shaped shoes 75 and"76- which bear against the tubing 59 at diametrically opposite points so that they are held in spaced relation suflicien't to hold the blocks against inward movement'until the shoes 'move up over the upper end of the collar 60 whereupon the shoes '75 and 7 6 will Y What Ielaim and desire to move closer together then the diameter 1 oi the tu'bin'gor pipe '59, and sinee the long arms 73*and 74 have "sufficient lengthslto allow them to slip over the upper end 01? the collar 60 before theelevator proper reachesthe collar, itwill be apparent tiat the elevator will grip the pipe just before it reaches the collar. Consequently the arms 73 and 7-4 will serve as automatic jaw re tardingand jaw releasing means, so it will be apparent that theelevator may slip up toward the top of the tubing the proper dis-I tance before the tubing engagement takes placed v g I It will be apparent that in assembling the jaws the lower trunnions 54 may first beiniserted in the bearing member 4l3 01'45 as the case'may beyand then the member 16 may be put'inplace, with thebearings 52 or 53 receiving theother trunnion, according to which jaw is being engaged.

The levers 61 and 62 are carried by the links 34 and 34 because the links34 and 34" arethe only parts of the elevator that have a fixed" relation of movement with respect to the hoisting line, but in the broad aspect of the invention I do not wish to be limited to the exact location of these'links- 1 VVhilethepipe is usuallysupported in vertical positions in the derrick, it is sometimes laid upon the floor so that it is in a horizontal position: The links or bails 34 and 34 will permit the elevator frame to swing'to and fro from a verticalto a horizontal osses, so that the jaws maybe placed around the pipe near thecollar before it isel'evated, and it will 'be' removed when the pipe is in the: Welland the elevator is just above the spider after the; spider has engaged the pi e, so that the elevator'=may b'e'releasedQ 0 course this operation is re versed when thepipe is pulled.

secure by Let" ters-Patent -is: p Y

1.: A clamping device for oil wellpipe, comprisingjaw supports, means for holding the supportsin spaced relation, means for causingmovements of the jaws one toward.

another, and pipe engaging means forhold mg the jaws out of gripping :POSltlOIl.

2. A clamping devicefor oil well pipe,

'comprising jaw supports, means connecting the supports, aws on the supports movable llllZO' and out'oof.'clamp1ng\pos1t1ons, and

*meansfcontactable with the pipe for holding the jaws out of clamping positions, movable past the end of the pipe whilethe pipeis between the "jaws to permit the jaws to clamp ep r "8. A clamping device for oil well pipe, comprising a frame, clamping aws supported upon the frame, and means eontactable with the pipe for holding the jaws out of clamping positions.

4. A clamping device forroil' well pipe,

comprising a frame, clamping jaws supported upon the frame, links supporting the frame, and means on the links contactable with the pipe for holding the jaws out of clamping positions.

5. A clamping device for oil'well pipe, comprising a frame, jaw supports carried by the frame, radial jaws having vertical pivots in thesupports, means for moving the supports one toward the other, and means contactable with the pipe to hold the jaws out of pipe clamping positions.

6. A clamping device for oil well pipe, comprising a frame, jaw carrying members on'the frame, radial jaws carried by the supports, means for causing the jaws to move inward toward a common center, and means having parts for contact with the pipe to hold the jaws out of clamping positions.

7. A clamping device for oil well pipe, comprising a frame, jaw carrying members on the frame, radial jawson the jaw carrying members, links for supporting the frame, and means on the links for contact with. a pipe to hold the jaws out of clamping positions. 7

8. An oil well pipe clamp, comprising a frame, links supporting the frame, jaw supports on the frame, jaws carried by the supports, means for moving the jaw supports inwardly to grip the pipe and means on the links to oppose clamping movement of the jaws.

9. An oil well pipe clamp, comprising a frame, links supporting the frame, jaw supports onthe frame, jaws carried by the supports, means connected to the links to move the jaw supports inwardly, and means on the links contactable with the pipe to oppose inward movement of the supports.

10. A clamping device for oil well pipe, comprising a frame having side members and rock shafts connecting them, cranks on the rock shafts, laterally movable blocks on the cranks, vertically pivoted jaws carried by the blocks, the jaws being arranged radially with respect to a common center, and means for rocking the shafts to impart movements to the jaws.-

11. A clamping device for oil well pipe. comprising a frame having side members and rock shafts connecting them, cranks on the rock shafts, jaw supports on the cranks, vertically pivoted jaws on the supports arranged in pairs, one pair on each support, and means for actuating the rock shafts.

12. A clamping device for oil well pipe, comprising a frame having side members and rock shafts connecting them, cranks on the rock shafts, blocks engaging the cranks having vertical bearings at their upper and lower corners, vertical elongated jaws having trunnions mounted in the bearings, and means for actuating the rock shafts.

13. A clamping device for oil well pipe,

comprisinga. frame having side and end members consisting of rock shafts, cranks on the rock shafts, each side consisting of two members, the members of one side being hinged together, co-operating latching parts on the ends of the members for the other side, jaw supportingmembers on the cranks, jaws carried by the jaw supporting members, and means for actuating the rock shafts.

14. A clan'iping device for oil well pipe, comprising a frame having sides and rock shafts connecting them, cranks on the shafts, jaw supports on the c 'anks, jaws on the supports, outstanding lever arms on the rock shafts, links from which thefends of the lever arms are suspended, elbow levers mounted upon the links, means on one end of each elbow lever for contact with the pipe to be clamped, and connections between the other ends of the levers and the jaws.

15 A clamping device for oil well pipe comprising a frame having sides and ends, slidable jaw carrying members carried by the frame, jaws on the members, means for sliding the members inwardly, links connected to said means for supporting the device, elbow levers pivoted to the links above the jaws, means connecting each lever to a jaw carrying member, and'means on each lever for contact with the pipe to be clamped, so, as to hold the jaws apart while the last named means is in engagement with the pipe.

16. A clamp of the character described comprising a frame, arms pivotally mounted on the frame, jaw mechanism pivotally mounted on said arms eccentrically of the arm axes, means pivotally suspending said arms on axes eccentric to the other axes whereby resistance of the arms and their load to pull from the suspending means tends to close the jaw mechanism, and secondary suspension means connected with the jaw mechanism and engageablewith an object to be clamped to restrain closing movement of the jaw mechanism.

17. A clamp of the character described comprising opposed arm sets, each having three transverse, eccentric axes, a frame carried by corresponding axes of the sets, jaw mechanism carried by other corresponding axes of the sets, means for supporting the clamp from other correspondingaxes of the sets, whereby movement of the arms on the supporting axes effects closing movement of the jaw mechanism on the frame axes, and means. carried by the supporting means, connected with the jaw mechanism and engageable with an object to be clamped to restrain closing movement of the jaw mechanism.

18. A clamp of the character described comprising jaw members crank mounted on horizontal axes. and slips automatically-adjustable on the jaw members on vertical axes.

19. A clamp of the character described comprising frame members, jaws eccentriealzontal axes, slips mounted on thejaws on vertical axes, and means connected with the frame members supporting the clamp.

- 20. In a pipe elevator, a body portion comprising a pair of hingedly connected jaws, ears on said jaws, toothed grippingmembers seated in said jaws, means pivotally connecting said gripping members with said ears and detachable clips pivotally connected with said gripping membersand engaging the same to hold said grippingvmembers in position on said jaws.

prisinga pair of hingedly connected jaws, ears on said jaws, toothed gripping members seated in said jaws, said gripping members having ribs seating in channels in said jaws, means pivotally connecting said gripping members with said ears and detachable clips pivotally connected with said gripping members and engaging the same to hold said gripping members in position on said jaws. In testimony whereof I aflix' my signature.

MARVIN B. DAVIS.

21. Ina pipe elevator, a body portion como 

